Caution: Rodgers says Hodgson must think carefully about how he uses the in-form Sterling

Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers has urged Roy Hodgson to be cautious with Raheem Sterling during the Euro 2016 qualifiers against San Marino and Estonia so that the dynamic young forward does not suffer any burn out.

The gifted 19-year-old's stock has risen so rapidly in the past 12 months that he is now an influential player for both club and country and is widely considered a certain starter.

Last season he announced himself as one of the brightest prospects in the game, as Liverpool fell agonisingly short of their 19th top flight league title, with a string of scintillating performances and now shoulders an increased burden for the club and England.

However, Rodgers believes they need to be careful it does not have an adverse effect on the nine-cap England international's development.

"We certainly have to be aware of it," he said. "It's easy just to turn around and say 'he is 19 and can play every day of the week'. But it doesn't work like that.

2/25
Javier Manquillo: 5

3/25
Martin Skrtel: 6

4/25
Dejan Lovren: 6

Solid for the most part, but perhaps could have done more with clearing header that fell to Jagielka for his goal.

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5/25
Alberto Moreno: 5

Lucky not to give away a first-half penalty in what was an unconvincing display.

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6/25
Jordan Henderson: 6

Kept the ball well, but couldn’t impose himself on the match.

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7/25
Steven Gerrard: 6

Scored A wonderful free-kick and looked far more energetic than in recent weeks.

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8/25
Lazar Markovic: 5

Tried gamely to get into the match but was largely anonymous and taken off after an hour.

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9/25
Raheem Sterling: 7

Destroyed poor Tony Hibbert, and created a number of goalscoring chances. A threat all afternoon.

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10/25
Adam Lallana: 6

Nearly scored early on with decent header and showed a few nice touches, but still to really shine for the Reds.

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11/25
Mario Balotelli: 6

A mixed bag – some decent efforts from range combined with the odd show of petulance and loose control.

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12/25
Philippe Coutinho: 6

Came on after an hour, and made a difference with his dribbling and incisive passing.

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13/25
Tim Howard: 6

Looked more like his usual self, with a few good saves and commanding claims from crosses. Will be disappointed though not to have kept Gerarrd’s free-kick out.

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14/25
Tony Hibbert: 5

Looked hopelessly out of his depth against the rampaging Sterling, but couldn’t be faulted for effort. Put out of his misery when taken off after 70 minutes.

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15/25
John Stones: 6

An impressive performance from the young defender, who largely got the better of Balotelli.

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16/25
Phil Jagielka: 7

A much-improved display from the struggles of recent weeks, full of important blocks and strong headers, capped off by a fantastic goal in the dying stages.

17/25
Leighton Baines: 6

Everton’s most dangerous attacking threat for much of the game with his bursts forward and accurate crosses. Largely untroubled defensively.

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18/25
James McCarthy: 6

Much more composed than his central midfield partner Barry, the Irishman broke things up well in midfield and rarely gave the ball away.

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19/25
Muhamed Besic: 6

Never stopped running and working for his team, and neat and tidy in possession.

20/25
Gareth Barry: 5

Booked in the second minute and very lucky not to give away a penalty and be sent off for a blatant handball soon after. An oddly ill-disciplined performance from the midfielder who went flying into tackles all match.

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21/25
Steven Naismith: 5

Did a reasonable job of roughing up Steven Gerarrd, but didn’t offer much going forward.

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22/25
Kevin Mirallas: 5

Looked a threat with his pace and trickery before going off injured after half an hour.

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23/25
Romelu Lukaku: 5

Unlucky not to win early penalty, but offered very little after that and gave the ball away far too often.

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24/25
Aiden McGeady: 5

Came on after 30 mins for the injured Mirallas, and went on a few dangerous runs against the Liverpool defenders.

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25/25
Tyias Browning: 5

Came on for the last 20 minutes for Hibbert and did a better job against Sterling.

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"There will be periods when they need to rest. Of course, when you give them the rest because you are planning ahead, you get accused of picking the wrong team.

"He is a big talent. The key is to try and nurture it, while also understanding the best players want to play in the games. And he will certainly have enough games this season."

His Liverpool team mate Daniel Sturridge was injured during an England training session ahead of their game against Switzerland this month and Rodgers, who was critical of Hodgson's handling of the situation, believes the England manager should consider resting Sterling, unless absolutely necessary, to avoid a repeat occurrence.

"I think Roy and his staff would have to look at that. He'll want to ensure the games are won but I'm sure resting players will be the objective, especially when you're winning the game comfortably," he said.

"We lost Emre Can when they (Germany under-21s) were 6-0 up on a pitch which was awful. But I'm not here to tell the England staff how to do their job."